Gold Coast youth crime: Police intel reveals young offenders ‘on selling’ luxury cars for petty cash

Police have revealed that young offenders on the Gold Coast are selling the luxury cars they steal for an astonishingly low price.

KID criminals are onselling expensive luxury cars for hundreds of dollars once they finish joy-riding, police say.

The Gold Coast’s top cop has given an insight into the inner-workings of young offenders stealing luxury cars, revealing youths have on-sold them for a fraction of their value, according to police intel.

The Bulletin last week revealed a Brisbane gang of teenage thugs and thieves were “creeping” south, stealing cars and breaking into Gold Coast homes, all the while posting their crimes on social media.

Members of the ‘Southside Gang’ pose with an ‘earn’ on social media.

Dubbed the Southside Gang the group gloats about their “earns” on social media, taunt police, and post images of luxury cars they’ve stolen.

Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said intel suggested some stolen vehicles were being sold on for a fee “well below the market value in the hundreds rather than the thousands”.

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“They’ll steal a (car), they’ll do a joy ride, they’ll post their exploits and social media and then they’ll sell it off to another person for another joy ride,” Supt Wheeler said.

He said this was anecdotally happening across the region recently.

Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

“These are not criminal enterprises to gain financial benefit.

“Look at an organised crime outfit, what they will do, is they will steal a high-end car and they will sell it for a good price.

“Whereas juveniles … it’s to gain notoriety, it’s to feed ego, it’s to show that they’ve been able to steal an expensive car.”

Last week teens in a stolen luxury vehicle lifestreamed their pursuit with police as they dangerously drove at highspeeds along the M1.

No arrests have been made.

Supt Wheeler was scathing of the social media and said it allowed a “celebration of bad behaviour” and “feeds the notoriety”.

“It’s concerning behaviour and again it’s coming back to that notion of notoriety and ego and having that desire to have their exploits publicised,” he said.

Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy said youths were unlikely to have the capability to get rid of the vehicle through parts or other means.

“They’re just in it for joy rides and if they can get a couple of hundred extra bucks by giving the car to someone else to worry about then they’ve probably made a profit in their mind,” he said.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said recently the number of youth offenders had decreased but a smaller cohort’s recidivism was increasing.